A Beautiful Day
by SigMcMuffin
Summary: Leia never told her mom about the scar on her back.


**A Beautiful Day**

**Careful! Ahead there be spoilers!**

Don't say I didn't warn you!

Hey guys ~ Sig here. So. This started as a funny bru-ha-ha of a story. Friend and I were discussing Alvin and all his...Alvin-ness. The topic of the scene in Hamil at the game came up and I made some off hand comment about how if Leia's mom (who is freaking terrifying) ever found out what happened she would wreck Alvin's world. He wouldn't stand a chance. Master Sonia would destroy him. Friend agreed. And it became kind of a joke for me. It makes me giggle. For various nefarious, sometimes I love him sometimes I want him dead, reasons. Alas, the story changed shape on me halfway thru. You'll see that when you read it. I still like the way it turned out. I don't pretend to be a prolific writer...I tend to write how I talk or how I see things. Think of it as that friend you know who uses their hands to tell stories and kind of jumps all over the place. But ya love them and their stories because they are special snowflakes. ^.^

Also, chronologically, I actually have this take place after ToX2. I haven't played it yet but I know just enough to be dangerous.

**Anyway. As mentioned before: Be Ye Warned, there by Spoilers Ahead.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the thought process. And that's suspect.**

~!~!~!~!~!

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and a small breeze was blowing in from the bay in Leronde. Leia was home visiting with family and, in turn, being visited with. Elize and Rowen had come over from Sharilton while the latter was on break from school. It had been almost a year since they had seen each other. They had gone back to their lives after saving the worlds once again. That, in itself, was strange. How many people could claim that they had saved multiple worlds more than once? And all before even leaving their teens. The two girls had talked about that very topic, well into the night, before Leia's mom banged had on the door and ordered them to sleep. The whispered conversation then turned to how many teenagers had saved the world but still had to contend with Master Sonia?

But now? Well, they were ready for some relaxation. Leia had a couple of weeks away from her job with the newspaper company on Elympios and fully intended to enjoy the nature around her. It was one of the things she missed most about home. Rowen had received a sylphjay from King Gaius and was up in his room drafting a reply so the two girls decided that they would head down to the best beach that the tiny island had to offer.

It _was_ a beautiful day.

And, like all beautiful days, subject to change and interruptions. The interruption didn't come in the way of unwelcomed weather. It can in the way of one question. A question that had never been asked in the Rolando household. A question that, when pushed, Leia could dodge with the best of them. She knew about dodging. She was pretty good at it…in all its forms. Plus, the question represented the past and Leia Rolando did not like living in the past.

Leia and Elize had waved good-bye and turned their backs on Master Sonia with the earnest promise to be back in time for dinner. "Yes," they had replied. They were ready. They had towels, snacks, umbrellas, and spirit artes to keep any burns away. Swimsuits were on and the girls were ready to go!

"Leia? Where'd you get that scar on your shoulder?"

Now it should be said that, for the most part, Elize rarely brought Teepo with her anywhere these days. The younger, shyer, girl had gotten used to using her own voice. But she had brought the stuffed toy along because it had seemed right. He was still her best friend and she had known that Leia would be happy to have the floating doll around.

"That's where that big fat liar, Alvin, shot her!" was the blurted reply from the aforementioned doll. Three things happened in rapid succession. So quickly one would've thought that they had happened simultaneously.

"TEEPO DON'T!" Elize shouted as she pounced on her friend and wrapped her arms around his head and mouth to silence him.

"WHAT?!" Was the cry, in unison, from Leia's parents. Though, to be fair, one was worried and fretting while the other was pure anger.

The third thing?

The big fat liar walked into the inn.

Leia stood there like a deer caught in sights. Maybe she could salvage this. Her mom hadn't met Alvin yet. He'd always found a way to not be at the inn when the party had stopped here throughout the journies. She could do this. She knew that look in her mom's eyes. She'd seen that look many years ago when bandits had dared to cross her. All she had to do was get him to leave. Easy, right?

It had been a beautiful day.

In her shock at seeing Alvin magically walk through the inn door Elize had loosened her grip on Teepo.

"Wa-hey Alvin!" was the exuberant reply.

"Well hey spuuuu-hey!" Alvin was quickly dragged outside by his scarf. When he looked down he was looking into the green eyes of a very scared, and concerned, Leia. "Hey, while I don't mind being manhandled by a pretty lady...do ya mind explaining what's going on?"

"No time to talk," she replied as she looked up and down the street. She couldn't hide at the Doctor's. That'd be the first place her mom would look. Though, it might be easier since Alvin would probably end up there anyway. "Hmm…Old Vicalle Mine perhaps?" Leia looked to her left, towards the expanse of open field. But how far could they get before her mom caught up? Master Sonia was fast.

"LEIA ROLANDO GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"Oh crap! We gotta run. Now!" Reaching down, Leia grabbed the former mercenary's hand and started to run towards the open fields and the vicinity of the old mine.

"Wait! Hey…damn it! Stop Leia!" Alvin stopped moving his feet and winced as the still running girl pulled on his arm. "We're not going any further until you tell me what this is all about."

Leia turned to stare at him. How could she tell him that he was about to die? A painful, horrible, no good death. A death that he didn't deserve…per se.

But now it was too late. She could see her mom's head emerging from the inn and she could clearly see the staff coming with it.

"Uhm…well. Mom asked. And Teepo blurted and...heheh…uhm…she hadn't been told yet you see? I had never brought it up. It was painful and she didn't need to know because it would just cause unnecessary drama and…I just…I had already forgiven and stuff…" Alvin blinked. He wasn't quite sure he followed what was being said. The girl wasn't forming complete sentences or even providing him with the necessary information. And now she was just murmuring to herself how none of this should've happened and this was all her fault and that she'd say pretty words at his funeral. He was beginning to believe the funeral bit as he could feel the ominous presence approaching from behind.

Leia turned away from him and sighed. It was too late. He wouldn't be able to escape now. Her turning away had brought everything into sharp focus for him though and, at last, he understood.

To be honest this was the first time he had seen it. He had never asked. Never tried. Never wanted. Just seeing the scar, an almost perfect little circle of taut skin, that dented and marred her shoulder made him feel things he hadn't felt since then. He had never forgotten. How could he? But he had learned that he couldn't dwell on it. Slowly, timidly, he reached out a hand and placed it over the scar and felt the younger girl tense up.

"Ah…so, uhm, this came up?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"You hadn't told your mom?"

"Get your damned hands off my daughter." With a sigh the man quickly dropped his hand and turned to face Sonia Rolando. "You have five seconds to make me believe that that was an accident and that you didn't intentionally shoot my daughter in the back." Her voice was like the coldest steel and deathly quiet. Alvin cringed just a little. He had always heard the stories from Jude and Leia about how "scary Master Sonia" was. He had heard about the time that Rowen, Milla, Jude, and Leia had endured an hours long lecture. He had even heard the story, and confirmation, of "The Demon Beast of Leronde." Never had he thought that he'd be staring down at the woman that Jude and Leia respected and feared the most.

"I-it wasn't an accident…exactly. I mean…I…" Alvin paused. There were no excuses he could make that didn't sound hollow even to himself. He sighed. "I'm…very sorry. There's no good way that this is going to sound. And it shouldn't. There are no excuses for what I did to her. And it is something that I truly regret." Alvin hung his head, clearly uncomfortable, and needing to escape. He couldn't even remember his initial reason for showing up at the Leronde Lodge unannounced. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. It seemed like an eternity passed with him staring at his feet and Leia's mom's eyes staring him down. Slowly a skinny pair of bare legs came to stand in front of him. His eyes trailed up the legs to see two first firmly planted on the owner's hips. As his eyes continued up they found the scar and finally the head of the person who owned the initial pair of skinny legs.

"Leia…what are you..?"

"Shut up, Alvin." The younger girl snapped. Alvin blinked. Well that was odd. She's never short with anyone.

"Leia get away from that man." Master Sonia stared her daughter down, waiting for her to move so that she could have at the man behind her.

"No Mom. Just no. " Leia's mom blinked and refocused her attention on her seventeen year old daughter.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Sonia looked up at her daughter, one eyebrow raised. She gave her The Look. The Mom Look. But this wasn't just any Mom Look. This was the patented Sonia Rolando Mom Look. And that look was slightly terrifying. Leia flinched slightly but didn't back down.

"I mean no. If ANYONE gets to be angry, it's me. If ANYONE gets to be the snot out of the man behind me, it's me. But since I did beat him at the Xian Du coliseum," Leia turned to face him a finger in his face. "Repeatedly, I might add." Then turned to face her mother again. "There's no need for any of that to happen. I got to say what I needed and I feel pretty okay. It's healed. It's in the past. I forgave him two years ago. Obviously he hasn't forgiven himself so I may have to beat some sense into him…"

"H-hey…"

"Shut it, Alvin." Leia didn't even turn around. "I'm the one who was shot and almost died. And I am the ONLY one allowed to pass judgment for that moment. And I did. It's over with." Leia stopped her rant and glared at the road as she was too scared to face her mother even with all her earlier bravado.

"I like to think that I raised my daughter with the common sense Maxwell gave a normal person. If not more," Sonia started. She was looking over Leia's head and directly at Alvin. "She may be a klutz and kind of scatterbrained. But I have never, ever, doubted her kindness and her ability to forgive." Sonia sighed. "If she's forgiven you then there's nothing that I can say against it."

Leia looked up to face her mother with tears in her eyes.

"YAY! Alvin gets to live!" Was the cheer raised by Teepo as he flew forward like a purple torpedo and latched himself onto the man's face. Rowen, who had missed most of the earlier excitement, was standing at the gate with Elize.

"I trust this tale has a satisfactory ending?"

It was going to be a beautiful day.


End file.
